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Madison Research Showcase Tentative Program
May 1st – Club Spartan
8:30-4:30 (with Reception at Dublin Square Pub from 4:45-7:00)
8:30-9:00: Arrival and Registration, Club Spartan
9:00-9:15: Welcome, Dean Sherman Garnett and Associate Dean Julia Grant
9:15-9:30: Student Senate Presentation of Slide Show of “Madison Moments”
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Session I: 9:45-11:00
1. Global Environmental Policy Making
Moderator:Matthew Zierler, faculty, International Relations, JMC
Aniela Butler, “A House of Cards: U.S.-China Relations in the Context of Rare Earth Elements Disputes”
Austin Flowers, “Deterrence in Illicit Electronic Waste Disposal”
Emily HanyuZhu, “Develop National Gas to Combat Air Pollution in China”
2. The Politics of Higher Education
Moderator: Peter Spadafore, Vice President, Michigan Independent Colleges and Universities
Paige Harness, “Student Parents and Higher Education: The Institutional Challenges to Academic Success for
Three Women Attending Michigan State University”
Hannah Jenuwine, “The Flint Promise Scholarship and College Readiness”
Michaela Palmer, “Sustainability in Higher Education”
Katelyn Prine, “College Access: Bridging the Gap of Inadequacy through College Access Programs”
Senior Honors Thesis Defense
Brittany Zwierzchowski, “Tocqueville’s America and Pierre Manet’s Christianity: The Compatibility of Democracy
and Religion”
Advisor: Folke Lindahl, Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy
Senior Honors Thesis Defense
Paul Rose, International Relations/Russian/Comparative Cultures and Politics, “Transnational Network Influence
on Great Powers: The Case of German and Russia”
Advisor: Mark Axelrod, International Relations
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Session II:11:15-12:30
3. Representations of Humanitarianism, Disease, and Criminal Justice
Moderator: Andaluna Borcila, faculty, Comparative Cultures and Politics, JMC
France Elvie Banda: “Balancing the Field: Twitter and Humanitarianism”
Salem Joseph: “Fictional Television: The Rising Platform to Bear Witness”
Kyra Stephenson: “Obscenity and Beauty: Media Representations and Mobility in the 2014 West African Ebola
Outbreak”
4. Equity and Access in Health Care Policy
Moderator: Susan Stein-Roggenbuck, faculty, Social Relations and Policy, JMC
Kaitlyn Beyer, “The Conundrum of Optional Health Care: An Examination of the Michigan Abortion Insurance
Rider Policy”
Maya Griefer, “Breast Cancer: A Disparity Defined”
Katherine Groesbeck,’ “Closing the Gap: How the ACA and the IHCIA Aim to Improve the Health Status of the
American Indian/Alaska Native Population”
Christen Richardson, “Giving Families the Best Shot: the Influence on Religious Beliefs on Vaccination Rates”
5. Political Leaders, Parties, and Ideology
Moderator: Benjamin Kleinerman, Faculty, Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy, JMC
Samantha Drasnin, “Tony Blair: Manichean Moralist”
Katherine Fuller, “The Impact of Tea Party Ideology and Funding on Republican Primary Elections”
HershMerenstein, “President George W. Bush’s Immigration Agenda: a Political Analysis”
Evan Park, “Banning the Cold War Manuscript: Examining Soviet-American Relations Under Reagan and
Gorbachev”
Senior Honors Thesis Defense
Brianna Starosciak, International Relations/Russian, “The Future of Warfare in Eurasia”
Advisors: Dean Sherman Garnett and Matthew Zierler, International Relations
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12:30-1:30 – Buffet Luncheon in Club Spartan
Keynote Address: Jeff Williams, CEO, Public Sector Consultants
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Session III: 1:45-3:00
6. Drug Policy in International Context
Moderator: Galia Benitez, faculty, International Relations, JMC
John Joba, “Assessing the Linkage between Licit Opium Production and Seizures”
Henrik Last, “The Heroin Trafficking Network in the Southeast Asian Region”
Alex McClung, “A State of Tolerance: the Dutch Approach to Marijuana Policy”
7. Race and Class in U.S. Institutions
Moderator: Jermaine Ruffin, JMC Alumnus, Policy Specialist at Michigan State Housing Development Authority
Joel Arnold, “Restoring the Choice to Housing Choice Vouchers”
Ephraim Clark, “Movin on Up from the Eastside: Education and its Effect on Mobilizing the African-American
Middle Class”
Megan Collier, “Spatial Mismatch and Transportation: The Effect of School Choice on the Middle Class in
America”
Kristianne Schmidt, “Better Together?: The Status of Integration in the Military”
8. Contemporary Issues in Latin American Politics
Commentator: Juan Javier Pescador, Professor, Department of History
Tyler Berg, “The Nicaraguan Interoceanic Grand Canal: Structural Violence in post-Revolutionary Nicaragua”
Lauren McEachran, “The Criminalization of Abortion in El Salvador: The Causes and Effects of Legitimized
Violence Against Women”
Emily Steinert, “Mexico’s Missing 43: A Manifestation of Violence in Mexico’s War on Drugs”
Senior Honors Thesis Defense
Arian Koochesfahani, Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy, "The Drama of Republic I and Why a
Philosopher Would Want to Rule"
Advisor, Eric Petrie, Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy
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Session IV: 3:15-4:30
9. Nationalism, Citizenship, State Building, and Conflict
Moderator: Bobby Brathwaite, Faculty, International Relations, JMC
Kelly Bedard, “Comparing and Contrasting Basque and Catalan Nationalism”
Florence Otaigbe, "African Emigration Policies: Combatting Brain Drain in South to North Movements in Kenya"
Mikayla Robinson, “Becoming Philip Jaisohn: 19th Century Korean Immigration and Soh Jae-pil”
Marlee Sherrod, “Ethnic Conflicts with a Focus on Religion: Comparing the Different Methods Rape as a Tool of
Genocide was Utilized in the Rwandan and Bosnian Genocide”
10. Gender, Sexuality, Violence, and Public Policy
Moderator: Jennifer Goett, faculty, Comparative Cultures and Politics, JMC
Jolisa Brooks, “Color Blindness in the Age of Cultural Appropriation”
SonaMovsisyan, “There is Such a Thing as Bad Publicity: Misconceptions about Human Trafficking in Michigan”
Kensington Schuman, “Implications of Sex Offender Registration and Notification Laws in the United States”
Marilyn Yousif, “The Impact of Domestic Violence on the Mental Health of Women in India”
11. Arms Control: National Interests, Global Strategies
Moderator: Yael Aronoff, faculty, International Relations, JMC
Marcus Bradley, “The Race to Arms: The Mexican Registration Issue”
Matthew Crabtree, “A Fail-Safe for the Unthinkable: The Origins, Methodology, and Legacy of American Nuclear
Weapons Strategy in the Cold War”
Dolores Sinistaj, “An Increase in Nuclear Weapons is an Increase in Peace”
Tyler Dean Thur, “Ensuring a Nuclear Arsenal for the 21st Century: Mechanisms for Strengthening and
Reinvigorating the Nuclear Stockpile Stewardship Program on its 20th Anniversary”
Senior Honors Thesis Defense:
Adam Cusick, “Government of the People, or For the People?: The Crisis of Democracy in the European Union”
Advisor: Folke Lindahl, Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy
4:45-7:00: Reception at Dublin Square Pub, 327 Abbott Road, East Lansing,
MI